Add Diamond Eyes to the list of great albums born out of tragedy. In November 2008, Deftones bassist Chi Cheng was rendered comatose following a near-fatal auto accident. With Cheng sidelined indefinitely, the band chose to shelve their nearly-completed album Eros, opting instead to start fresh with producer Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters, Alice in Chains) and a new batch of songs that more accurately reflected the band's emotional state. Rather than wallow in despair, however, Diamond Eyes is more hopeful than expected. It's considerably more focused than 2006's uneven Saturday Night Wrist, and their most solid effort since 2000's White Pony.